A Business in Besieged Warsaw

Civilians walk and bicycle past a business protected by sand bags in besieged Warsaw, 1939. Soon after Julien Bryan returned to the United States, he had more than 150 of his original black and white negatives produced as hand-colored glass lantern slides at Edward van Altena’s studio in New York City. Lantern slides are positive images on glass that were intended to be projected for viewing. Before color film became widely available, these slides were often hand-painted to create vivid color works. Lantern slides became popular in the United States in the late 1800s and continued to be widely used until the 1930s, when they were gradually replaced by more convenient 35mm slides. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Julien Bryan Archive